Fast Track Your Career: Recycling and Waste Management
It’s been so good to see our country increasing sustainability policies and practices. Good news for our planet, economy and local employment.
We’ve certainly seen an increase in demand for services in the Waste Management and Recycling Industry over the last few years, with more and more jobs being generated across all levels.
Check out the National Waste Policy Progress Summary Report National Waste Policy Progress Summary Report 2021 (dcceew.gov.au) – hundreds of job opportunities are being generated from this policy alone!
And yet - this sector is often overlooked for career opportunities because of the perception that waste and recycling roles are ‘dirty’ ‘smelly’ or of low pay.
This is far from the truth – but the misconception is actually great news for open-minded job seekers wanting to progress quickly in their careers. The workforce shortage in Australian waste and recycling makes way for those who work in it to upskill and move through the ranks faster than their peers in other industries.
Right now, we’re seeing unskilled entry level employees move like rockets into increasingly higher skilled and paid positions within weeks!
What sort of roles could you be doing in Waste?
If you’re starting out, companies are always looking for
- Pickers
- Spotters
- Trades Assistants
With on and off the job training, your career can move into
Machine operator and driver roles with
- Forklifts
- Sweepers
- Compactors
- Scrapers
- Excavators
- Dozers
- Graders
- Front-end Loaders
- HR/MR
Higher Responsibilities
- Leading Hand
- Supervisor
- Manager
Trade and academic qualifications can be earnt and put to use as
- Project Manager
- EH&S Officer
- Mechanic
- Fitter
- Welder
- Site and Environmental Engineer
Administrative and sales jobs as
- Administration Assistant
- Weighbridge
- Customer Support
- Sales Representative
- Business development manager
How to get started in a Waste and Recycling Career?
Scouting the job boards is one of the more obvious and popular avenues for obtaining work in Waste and Recycling. This is a great place to start but be aware – when a job is advertised online it is often bombarded with applications and you may find more success through other means.
Joining Waste Management and Recycling communities online is a great place to network – that old adage often still applies: “it’s not always WHAT you know, but WHO you know”.
Find a recruitment agency who specialise in this industry and show a genuine interest in you and your career goals. You're reading this on the Black Bear Solutions website - you're already WAY ahead on this one 😉
Don’t forget to brush up on your industry knowledge – this is the special sauce that will get the interview and win the job. Browse LinkedIn articles, company blogs and their posts on social media to keep yourself in the know. A great recruitment agency, like Black Bear, will help you out here as well.
